Valve's Steam Deck Might Be The Closest We'll Get To A Switch Pro In 2021

Everything about this thing screams uncomfortable.

Steam does what Nintendont

It's a pity they ruined the button layout by cramming in those touchpads from the Steam Controller. All the stuff 90% of people will be using is crammed into the very top of the device.

Get rid of the touchpads, space out the sticks/buttons a bit, and you're golden.

This is what Nintendo should be doing, hopefully they are. Light years ahead and only marginally more than the Oled.

Looks really good to be honest. Great insides for the price and lots of people have a ready made Steam library.

I know I'm buying one. Total War Warhammer 3 on the go.... I am so sold. I kinda doubt it would work on here though. But I'm still getting one!

@Rika_Yoshitake @Rika_Yoshitake ???? Looks really comfortable.

This thing looks really promising and for what it is it's a bargain compared to the oled switch.

hey guys look it's persona on the switch just like you wanted

@Ralizah it'd be good if the touch pads and sticks were swappable as you're not likely to be using both

@Rika_Yoshitake Yep. 669 grammes.

As a handheld fan, this really looks cool. I might get this eventually.

As others have stated, the buttons and d-pad teetering on the far top corners looks horrendous.

Valve announced the Switch Pro, nice.

I think this machine will flop or at least it won't be a massive success.
The switch sells a lot because of great marketing and mass appeal.
This machine will not be easy for kids to use imo and therefore will not reach switch sales. But it does seem like a nice piece of hardware for the price. I'm not getting it though.

Tempting, though I don't typically buy games on Steam when I can buy most of the games that I'm interested in on GOG.

If I can add other games to the Steam library and use it as something of a mini PC (where I would be able to play virtually anything on it), then I'm all in.

While I have built up a bit of a Steam library over the years (through Humble Bundle purchases, mostly), it's not strong enough for me to favour it over my Switch library.

Switch killer.
Nintendo missed the boat.

A nice price for the base unit too, also amazingly they managed to include their R&D, packaging, shipping and everything else, for a unit they designed from scratch. Great timing of the announcement, too ^_ ^

@Munchlax,

I very much doubt this will compete, but could be wrong of course.

I kinda want one as a portable pc even though I never play switch handheld.

@Silly_G If I can add other games to the Steam library and use it as something of a mini PC (where I would be able to play virtually anything on it), then I'm all in.

You can. You can run other digital stores, you can download mods from anywhere and you can even uninstall the Steam OS and put Windows on it.

@Rika_Yoshitake

Actually think it looks very comfortable easily more comfortable than the switch.

This really just shows that the switch is overpriced
Hope it does well competition can only be a goodthing for gamers

@WhiteUmbrella,

Not sure the design will win them many fans, looks like an a much older console to be honest, It will have a good bit of power, but there are already another two consoles like this on the market already.

NeoGaf will go nuts for this, which probably means if will fail hard.

People don't like the comparison between the Xbox Series S for $50 cheaper than the OLED Switch because the Xbox isn't portable but I wonder how they will invalidate this comparison.

@Schizor88 I can't possibly see in what way the Switch is more user friendly than this. They both have an online store accessible from the unit, I'd imagine. Maybe Nintendo's front end is more user friendly than Steams, but I wouldn't bet on it, and you surely don't know.

How much did they charge above the cost of components though?

My fingers would be broken by the time I got a video game done.

This is like so many of those "gaming handheld" that are basically PC "tablets" with built in controls. (GDP micro etc)

Looks nice, but not really a competition to the Switch.

I already own a switch. Why would i buy another switch that only have oled and don’t have better specs? This console sound perfect, and affordable.. Can’t wait to use my steam account in it.

I bet they held off announcing this till Nintendo made their move which was a good plan to be fair. If I actually bothered with pc gaming I might have gone for this since I prefer handheld. But might pick one up if the emulation side of things is good.

@WhiteUmbrella The switch has physical media. Already more kid friendly right there imo. So whatever dude, go argue with someone else 🥱

Look for real tho, this looks really good, and if it can give nintendo a run for there money then i'm game, At the same time this is a cheaper PC option that cost about as much of a PS5.

@The_New_Butler are you sure it supports sd cards? The article doesn't say.

@Schizor88 The physical media is a plus to me, but I don't really associate that with children. Physical games can be lost, and Switch carts are small.

Competely lost interest in a switch pro now. Anyone that follows Valve knows every bit of hardware they've released has been a massive success for PC gaming as a whole in the long run. I can't wait to see what new innovations Valve will bring in the future.

I think it looks great but I wouldn't have a use for it personally. If I really want to play a PC exclusive game it will be..well on my PC. Im not a on-the-go gamer though so there is that. I think more companies should go the hybrid route like this as it makes a lot of sense in today's age but we shall see

This looks uncomfortable as hell. To even press the buttons while using the right control stick you either have to have it sitting flat down, or be a hand contortionist. I just feel this stands no chance against the switch. To parents the switch would be a better buy because of the entire everyone can play, and this will just be there for the pc fans who want to take their games with them.

So I can play Xbox pass games on it, Epic Store, steam games including Sony games on Steam? This might be the best handheld this far.

Looks cool, this could be a nice supplement to the Switch in my eyes. Hopefully it's readily available. I also hope those who wanted the "Switch Pro" actually look into to this as a potential buy.

People better hope this’ll sell well enough that it jerks a kink in Nintendo’s tail to actually improve their mediocre online service and hardware, now that they’re going have some stiff competition.

Fast Forward

'So, how do YOU play your lovely Steam Deck? Handheld or docked?'

'Umm...mine hardly leaves the dock.'

'Why didn't you buy a PC, then?'

'ooooooohriiiiiight...'

Honestly, the Switch Pro comparisons are fairly meaningless. You play a Switch docked, you have a Nintendo console that plays Nintendo games. You play this docked...you have a PC.

But because this is a PC, it will suffer from the same stigma. IT guys who eat and sleep PCs will love this 'moar powah etc etc', but they spend their day helping the workforce who are profoundly frustrated with the one they are stuck in front of all day. You think a they want to go home and sit infront of one? The mainstream just want something 'that works.' when they get home. It's why XBox brand exists. It's not a PC (and it would be the worst thing they could do to make it one!)

If it came out before Switch, I am sure it would have captured everyone's imagination much, much more. Unfortunately, they weren't the inventive ones.

It will be a hit of course with PC gamers (who are growing in number.) I honestly don't want to sound like it will be a flop (just maybe more expensive than folk realise after extra costs) but to think it will be a Switch killer is just the specs speaking.

@Rika_Yoshitake According to those who have played it, it´s the opposite. Also, if we compare the specifications with the Switch, the Steam Deck offers a much better value.

@Dman10 By default it runs SteamOS so only Steam games. But according to the website you can change the OS. So install Windows on it should be possible.

@WhiteUmbrella I think they forgot the R&D costs, that'll be another $40.

Pretty cool, but are the specs up to running the latest AAA games? That's a genuine enquiry for the PC gamers here, btw, not a naysay.

If I had more interest in handheld gaming, I would be all over this.
The price/hardware comparison with the Switch isn't even that relevant, imo. The Switch is weaker but also cheaper.
Switch should get cheaper then it already is, but it is what it is.

The bigger point is, that this gives you access to your entire Steam library.
If you have no pc: Tons of games that could potentially interest you. And multiplats are generally cheapest on Steam as well.
If you already have Steam on your pc: No brainer.

Hmmm..does this thing have DRM? Like if you're offline with a game downloaded, are you good to go? And can I play modded steam games on this ( as in the modded NBA 2k14 Ultimate Base Roster)
Lots of questions, but very intriguing, especially as a next gen purchase because PS5 and Xbox series X are loaded with DRM and a CMOS battery, which is not for me.

@Cyberbotv2 Steam supports offline play for games, yes. And like I said above, you can run other OSes on it than Steam OS. So yes for the second question.

@uptownsoul PC library is huge though and because it's a PC, there will be emulators.

@Schizor88 Yeah, I kinda think this will go the way of the Steam Link and Steam Machine …

@Ralizah They use those haptic pads for mouse control. Steam games use a lot of mouse input. You need those.

Finally! Yo! Noid II: Enter the Void Game of a Year Edition is gonna be portable!

This actually looks pretty cool. I want one.

@anyoneupsetabouthapticpads You can use your pro controller on this thing fyi...

This seems really good.
Also the docked Mode, you could use it as a normal PC.

It has also some serious Power.

If nothing else, this shows what Nintendo COULD be doing on the hardware side.

@Cyberbotv2
I don't see a reason why this wouldn't support mods. At the very least the mods from Steams own "Steam Workshop", but probably all the others as well, since this thing seems to behave like a normal pc anyway, just with Steam OS pre installed.

Offline play is not a problem on Steam in general. If a game requires online, then that is on the game, not on Steam.

@ArcticSin Huh? Steam boxes were a total crash and burn.

I like the 'handles' but the button/stick ergonomics look awful. Take those touch-pads out cause I don't care to play mouse games portable.

We'll see how it does. I expect battery life to be pretty abysmal playing anything pushing that apu; like the Switch I suppose. Interesting to see where it goes and if a v2 fixes some of the problems this thing will surely have.

Just about everything about this seems like a no brainer purchase over the Switch OLED. For only $50 more I am getting an entirely new handheld platform and vastly more capable hardware. As someone who already has a Switch the new Switch makes zero sense and this makes a lot of sense.

I'm only here for first party Nintendo games, and a select few others like Monster Hunter, so this means nothing to me. Nintendo could put controls and a screen on a toaster and I would still buy it, so... 🤷🏾‍♂️🤣

Oh yeah, and this will play every Nintendo game made. Lmao.

@eaglebob345 Monster Hunter is on Steam

Hmm, Steam OS 3, based on Arch Linux.. That probably rules out a good chunk of the games in my Steam library.

@moodycat That was my first thought too...

@The_New_Butler Sure, SteamOS is basically just Linux. However there is no GamePass / Epic Games Store for Linux. You'll need Windows for that. (Which should be able to be installed on this)

So a switch but with more power and be able to play the latest third party titles at a fraction of a cost more?

Sounds like a switch pro could of been done but Nintendo didn't want to put in the effort apart from a new screen....

@sanderev But Nintendisn't. (Sorry about the terrible joke. 😬🤣)

@sword_9mm the steam machines paved the way for steam on Linux which is a huge thing for anyone who wants to switch from windows.

The TouchPads are a necessity IMO because I use and tweak mouse-like joystick settings quite a bit within steaminput, as well as a touch-based dpad + steam controller's haptics just being plain better than a physical one any day of the week. I can't go back to aiming with a joystick lmao

Valve, you're a software company NOT hardware. Make HL3 already damn it! I will hard pass this like I did with Steam controller, SteamLink, Valve Index. HL3 or nothing!

@Trajan Potentially, it will play more Nintendo games than any single Nintendo system will

Lol @ nintendo fans saying it looks uncomfortable. Nintendo trademarked uncomfortable ever since the n64 controller. But since it was Nintendo it was new and innovative. 🤣

You need to be careful with the cost argument though.
The small variant, with 64gb is too small imo.
Switch games tend to be small, because they have to be.

PC games, on the other hand can be quite large. In fact, some games won't fit into that storage at all.

It'll be curious to see how it performs in the long run. Not even considering Valve's mixed success with hardware, there's been countless portable competitors who had every reason to believe they'd take a chunk out of the portable market, only to come up short or step away after a short stint.

There's potential here, but how big is the market for this?

At the very least, this could help light a fire under Nintendo's feet. They've been riding a bit toooo comfortably due to the lack of direct competition as of late.

@thejuice027 let valve do whatever they want to. They'll make half life 3 once there's a reason to make it, IE when they have new hardware they want to show off.

Edit: also, imagine passing on the steam controller

yes...but without nintendo games

I'll wait to see how well this runs. If it does even a little bit well I hope Sony thinks about bringing the psp line back.

@GrailUK 'Why didn't you buy a PC, then?'
'ooooooohriiiiiight...'

Should be interested how this turns out. Ton of potential. Saying this a rival to Switch is just like PC being a rival to PS5.

It is, but not directly.

Indie games is where it will hit Nintendo the worst, emulation will probably void it and they might crack down on it.

@Kirgo PC games, on the other hand can be quite large. In fact, some games won't fit into that storage at all.

Good thing you can add a micro sd card.

Looks cool. I'll be picking one up for sure... buuuut, not gonna lie, it looks uncomfortable as hell and Valves previous efforts with hardware ergonomics don't instill much confidence.

looks cool! not sure it will have staying power. gonna be really hard to compete with nintendo on a handheld, but i'm definitely interested to see the reviews.

@dani3po I'd like it to be good enough for emulating Switch first party games. Do you think it will be?

"What can be done for $400" should also account for Nintendo's use of different tech (Nvidia's to boot), more custom and ambitious peripherals and no habit of selling consoles at a loss. But otherwise, indeed, it looks like a sign of things to come next gen on Ninty side as well - not improbably 2-3 years from now. As of now, this machine's price and specs already make it a potential GPD line killer among gaming micro PCs. I could be in the market for it myself, but the odds of getting it shipped here are almost nonexistent and our import tax would easily bump the price into GPD range even if they weren't. Maybe someday...

@The_New_Butler that too, which in conjunction with the touchpad/capacitive thumbsticks and HD haptics might make this pretty damn nice to use, although that stuff would be more fitting for a new steam controller which I'm hoping more for than this.

I don't understand: Is the cheapest model hqve a nVME slot to upgrade storage? If it has, it's the best choice (for me)

@sanderev This has a lot more power than a tablet.

@The_New_Butler honestly, it was the realisation that I can install the Xbox app and play my GamePass games on it (natively, not streamed, but installed locally!) that made me instantly want this.

@offday It's a whole generation ahead. It probably is 8 times as powerful as the Switch. It's like comparing a PS4 to a PS3.

Biggest Downside

Requires ISP subscription to work not Good not Free
Digital Games YOU don't own them
No reselling of games you don't like
Contracted by Steam Contracts and EULA
Cloud biggest love for Hackers.

@GrailUK You can't get a graphics card for 400$ your getting a whole system for the price. This is not marketed at super IT master race PC. It's for those that buy a prebuild just to play Fortnite.

@Ajent where did it say the Xbox app can be installed natively?

@Ajent IGN: Is it for gaming only or can it run other PC applications? Can it do other things?

Pierre-Loup Griffais: It can pretty much run anything you can run on a PC.

@NotoriousWhiz In the video. Also IGN have a hands on video with it. It’s just a PC that ships with the Steam Linux OS (Photon?), but you can just install Windows on it instead (which I imagine a majority of people would do). You can then run anything on it that you can run on a standard Windows PC. Ergo, Xbox app can be installed. They don’t specifically say ‘Xbox app’, but they make it very clear that you can install ANYTHING on it.

@Olmectron I don´t even know if there´s a Switch emulator on PC, tbh.

@Zorox88 That was just an example. Apart from the kids who still play Fortnite, I'm sure it has the spec fans interested in how much it outperforms the humble Switch. You latched on to the IT guys, but didn't quite twig it was to illustrate the average joe, not them. This isn't going to kill the Switch, I'm afraid.

And, well, if you are going to play docked mostly, and have $400 in your pocket, they may aswell save up a tad longer.

@dani3po yep… we saw the same video. It really is very interesting. With the right emulators you could even end up being able to play more ‘Nintendo’ games on this than you can on a Switch!

@dani3po It's not really legal is it? Unless you own the games already and then maybe still not (not sure Nintendo would be happy).

As for equating what you can build for $400 and projecting that on to what the Switch should be aiming for, you all do realise the Switch hasn't had a price drop yet. Demand dictates price. It's how stuff works. Switch is still in high demand.

It's a PC. Period (you could probably even install Mac Os if you wanted - and it was legal).

@shgamer The emulator itself would be legal, I assume. Playing roms you don´t own wouldn't.

The GameGear to Switch's Game Boy.

@dani3po I'm not really sure. Nintendo wants people to buy their hardware too (they actually make money selling it, contrary to Sony, Microsoft and probably also Valve).

This is actually pretty awesome but I wouldn't trade my switch for this because Nintendo games are better. The price is good though and access to steam library makes it very tempting

I'm really interested in this, I could play many Steam games I haven't played, yet.

Sony released more powerful consoles than Nintendo and Nintendo laughed all the way to the bank.

Will this device finally knock Nintendo off their high horse?

Shakes magic 8 ball

"Ask again later."

@Ralizah They had to make a compromise for games that are keyboard/mouse only. Honestly, I think it will be a great pick up and play solution.

This is going to eat into the Switch's sales so hopefully it will force Nintendo's hand in bringing a switch pro to market.

@BananaMetallurgica I would take the Steam library over the Nintendo one, any day. There's only so much Mario/Zelda/Metroid rehashes I can handle!

@WhiteUmbrella It supports SD Cards.

I just wish this was in the Switch family so I could play my Nintendo library on it. What would Breath of the Wild, Bowser's Fury, and Astral Chain look like on this Deck? They probably could run very smoothly with much improved graphics. Would be sweet. I'm going to be really tempted to get one of these since I've got tons of Steam games.

I'll wait for reviews, but man if this is really it...

Even if this thing uses Linux, there are various programs like Wine and Lutris that can run Windows games on Linux without having to install a new OS. Definitely gonna keep my eye on this thing, it looks very slick.

@Ajent I'd be curious if there's a difference between game performance when running on SteamOS vs running on native Windows. I would assume the SteamOS has been optimized such that it can do more with fewer resources. To that end, I'm would like to know if it's possible to install the Xbox app on SteamOS instead of installing Windows.

This does put pressure on Nintendo because the Big N can't price systems to sell at a loss, contrary to companies like Valve. We'll see how it pans out, but it could actually sell pretty well.

@uptownsoul

Don't forget you can play Switch games on a PC handheld too.
https://youtu.be/NhvrmNE5yng?t=509

People here forget that the Steam Deck also can run Switch games because of it's power with Yuzu.

Switch loses in any way here on both games and hardware.

Steam Deck runs newest PC games, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, GameCube ++++

I don't expect this to take off, but hope it does. There were portable steam machines that never made it off the ground, but I did like that they were willing to experiment with control schemes (double trackpad controllers on the steam controller - terrible for FPS, but awesome for RTS).

This one though: Dual analogue sticks (clickable), proper d-pad, Gyro, Analogue triggers, 4-face buttons, 8 triggers (back-grip buttons similar to the Xbox Elite controller), full touch screen support and bluetooth/USB-c for any additional peripherals you want.

Not bad. Without the overhead of windows and with the lower resolution, this thing can run more than you might think. More importantly, if you're playing in your house, you could steam link to your portable and play the video stream of your full-fat gaming PC. Maybe this will give Nintendo incentive to finally approve Rainway on Switch to unlock local PC-streaming functionality.

This looks good. Might pre order.

I cant pre order it in my country, steam support outside the US is non existent.
Furthermore, the only model that will really do what this promises is the $529 model because it has SSD, and it still comes with no dock
I'm interested but there's far too many 'buts'

@Crono1973
Sure you buy an SD Card, that costs additional money though as well. And that storage is much slower than the internal.

Not necessarily a better option than buying a more expensive model.

If it was healthy competition, sure.

@NotoriousWhiz I don’t think you can install it on the SteamOS. There isn’t a version for that. Although I also don’t see performance being an issue on Windows either.

@Crono1973 This is a handheld (no dock/detachable controllers) so it should be compared more to the Switch Lite. Which this is 2x the price of the Lite. I am considering getting it though.

I am hoping this will put pressure on Nintendo to bump up the compute for the next system.

@BloodNinja no no. I'm can't stay without Nintendo games, not only Mario and Zelda. Then I hate fps, TPS, Occidental RPG.... I only like Japanese games

@Kirgo True....SD cards get about 100 mb/sec read vs. 2.5gb/sec NVMe. Still, for most games, that just reduces loading times. I'd consider a larger model mostly for MMOs that need to constantly load player assets....but if you plan to buy bigger storage purely for MMOs and play at home, maybe just steam-link to your pc and play in bed without the need to deal with storage at all?

Seems like a solid product aimed at PC enthusiasts who want to play their Steam games on the go. It should find a solid niche and certainly won't flop like the Steam Machines from a few years ago.

I do find the comparisons to the Switch OLED a bit unusual. Sure, the specs are a league above that of the Switch, but from a general consumer perspective, it looks as ugly as the Sega Game Gear, the button placement is questionable at best, and it doesn't come with detachable controllers, a dock, an OLED display, or support for physical media (thereby making the 64GB model somewhat of a joke).

Another neat touch- the pre-order system has been designed in a way to beat scalpers. You have to put £4 down as a deposit and you also need to have made a Steam purchase prior to June 2021, all as a measure to express intent to buy (for yourself).

I have all but given up on Madden coming to the Switch, so I might get it just for that and to run AAA titles that the Switch will struggle with.

@Ambassador_Kong,

Shakes magic 8 ball again, "Don't count on it", but seriously there are already two similar devices on the market, and these will all remain niche at best.

Dedicated PC gamers will just stick with their set up and buy a gaming laptop if anything , and the wider mass market will not even know it or the other two even exist, or even care that much about a portable p.c, that looks as comfortable to hold as a cheese grater, and looks like a house brick some one has slapped a screen on, surely a company like valve could have made at least a little effort with the design of this thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wINKqvWou5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9c1T-ZukQA

@roboshort there is a dock. In fact you don’t actually need a dock, you can just connect it to a monitor. As for controllers; the ones on the system don’t detach, but any (literally ANY) other controller can be use with it.

@SolBlazer
SteamDeck won't dent Switch sales even a bit.

What will dent Switch sales is its age as it is now nearly 4.5 yrs old, but even then it's commercial performance has been exceptional.

@flightsaber
Sure, I just wanted to say that this machine can easily be more expensive than it seems, because you probably don't want the cheapest model or at least want a big sd card on top.

Depends on how you want to use it of course.

My eyes lit up and my heart said "it's happening", at 2 tera flops that puts it into Portable PS4 territory, but running at 720P so 30+ frames per second. It'll be able to emulate the oldies well too (even wii U). Definitely down for this, go on Valve.

@roboshort This is a handheld (no dock/detachable controllers) so it should be compared more to the Switch Lite. Which this is 2x the price of the Lite. I am considering getting it though.

I am hoping this will put pressure on Nintendo to bump up the compute for the next system.

It does have a dock, it just doesn't come with the dock. On the other hand, I have read that a dock isn't needed for TV out and a USB-C to HDMI cable is all that is needed. We'll see if that is true. The Switch Lite has no TV out at all.

I think I'll stick with comparing it to the Switch and the OLED Switch.

Competition is a good thing. I am not gonna say otherwise.

That said, I am not impressed. Sure, maybe it connects directly to Steam, and that does give it access to a huge library of titles. But it's not gonna have that native support of top tier first party content. Does Valve themselves even still make games anymore? I remember hearing about some VR titles but obviously that wont be for this.

Further, considering how Valve has released other hardware in the past only to abandon them shortly after... Well, I don't trust them to support the hardware. I will want to wait and see. I don't want to buy something like this only to have them stop supporting it in a year and a half.

Competition is good, but frankly, I still say Valve's got nothing on Nintendo. I use Steam on PC sure, but that's mostly for the easy access to mods and match making. That's pretty much it.

@dani3po Yeah. Emulation itself is legal and you can make your own roms from the games you bought and playing them through an emulator. Although the majority of people don't do that.

Ugh.. Arround here I see some people justifying piracy ("haha this console will play all Nintendo games that I will totally buy and not download online for free"). Hating Nintendo but not being able to stop playing their current games for free is more common than it should. And those same people then scream about how very "ethical" emulation is and hide behind "but preservation!" excuse. At the very least people should actually buy the games, you know? Nintendo stills sells Switch games.

This looks alright, but I think I'll wait for it to come out before dismissing or getting excited.

Makes me curious, though, on what the next true switch successor will be like as technology progresses. I'm cool with the OLED switch announcement as it's just Nintendo upgrading their portable device screen as they have done so many times in the past (seriously don't understand the hate... but there's too much hate in this world these days... like, it's cool to hate or something).

Still, I think steam is amazing on a laptop, but this still looks cool! Wish it were on my tablet (Galaxy S7+).

@WhiteUmbrella I suspect the core difference is if Valve decide to actually up their "hardware distribution, marketing and 'negotiation with actual retail chains" " deal for this.

Come what may, mainstream people can still buy a Switch/Playstation/Xbox at the Walmart. Unless Valve wise up(and that's if they indeed want to "compete" at all more than just carving a niche), they could still end up not selling enough console if they coax on "we've made it so we guess they'll come" laissez-faire.

Plus, knowing that even with it's weak hardware the Switch's profit margin(for the console, not the games) isn't super high... I can't help but wonder if this things truly sell at a profit even at the 399$ prices or if it'll be "as good" as advertised.

Some people seem to think this'll be the "4K Switch" but there's already people doubting it when they look at it.

Plus, recalling how hot even the 2017 Switch could run, I can't help but worry about the running temperature of this thing.

I won't lie, it DOES look good but I can't help but wonder if it's "too good to be true". At the very least, at least unlike the Steam Machines this platform seem to be built with clear standard and concept(since iirc the Steam Machine was ultimately just "we'll give some rough specification to hardware manufacturers to make their own and we'll throw the SteamOS at it" laissez-faire).

@BloodNinja Just a question after reading your comments in multiple articles at this point. Do you even like Nintendo at all or you are here just trolling? Just a thought. Also I hate the whole "Nintendo only do Mario and Zelda rehashes!". Yeah, totally true... If you ignore every non Mario and Zelda games Nintendo makes.
Also, now they apperantly do a lot of "Metroid rehashes"? In which timeline you are right now?

A consoles without a walled garden…. Kinda of excited.

As someone who has a big stream library im very interested in this. Really good specs and I like the design. Don't really see it as a big competitor to the switch, as Nintendo has their brand and software which is the main seller of the switch. But I do think it will sell well. Not 100 million well, but if they sell 10 million I think they'll call it a success.

@westman98 Honestly this.

Plus... I won't lie, this is a SOLID offering from Valve if it works as advertised or even if it works even just "mostly" as advertised(they do put forward the point of "you can adjust game graphics settings" so I suspect that "can run AAA games, and well" will come with the caveat of "if you adjust settings accordingly so it doesn't overheat").

But ultimately Valve kind of has that problem on their hardware effort where, well.

There's a reasons Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft are where they are and it's partly because ultimately they've become very much expert at retail distribution/negotiation/marketings.

Come what may, even in Walmart you're able to buy a Switch/Playstation/Xbox console(maybe not the PS5/Xbox because of all the supplies issues, but the fact is Walmart IS a place you can go for those).
With Valve... I'm not sure they'll have the negotiation/distribution chops to distribute this reliably outside of their own direct order system which could greatly hinder this thing's reach.

@Serialsid Honestly, in hindsight(and especially because Nintendo's exclusive is a thing) I'd be almost more interested in buying this instead of a Playstation/Xbox than a Switch.

Since ultimately... those are the platforms whose games are more likely to be featured on a PC platform anyway.

Anyhow, that's assuming it works as well as advertised/can be distributed and sold to meet demand/actually sells enough to be supported in the long run.

@Kirgo Honestly I feel a SD card will be a must with this thing, especially the lower end model.
Ultimately the Switch kind of coast "okay" with it's storage because it has a physical option AND that physical option means that games on Switch are made with a 16GB cartridge storage in mind. So the largest Switch games are 14GB on average but MANY PC games are in the 40-50GB+ range. When they don't outright reach a bloated 100GB size.

How long till Valve discontinues it?

It looks good but... I don't really trust Valve with hardware so I'll wait until it comes out before making a full opinion. Specially because it looks like it's too good to be true in some places specially about stuff like battery and heating (how will run really demanding games and stuff).
Although one problem I have already. I don't like the design at all, too crowded. Interesting still tho. And focusing on the personalization of the console is quite interesting since all three big consoles don't allow stuff like installing a custom OS.

It's funny to see all the people here doing the "Nintendoommed" talk because of specs. Nintendo didn't drop the Switch price because it keeps selling. Besides, the Switch never had huge specs and it worked just fine.
There are plenty of these portable PCs on the market already and none of them made much of a splash. I can see this getting a bigger market than the Steam Box (yes random user, Valve did made some mistakes too) and probably getting it's small niche audience that love this kind of more "complicated" products but the Switch will be just fine.

Although at the very least this is a good window into the specs of a "Switch 2".

The beauty of the Switch is not just portability, it's versatility and convenience.

Valve might pull it off with this device, but I'm skeptical. PC gaming generally does not lend itself to "pick up and play" sessions that the Switch is so good for.

@Slinkoy1 looking at the design, I think the controls were placed so high on the face of the unit, so that it's comfortable to rest fingers on the triggers to the rear. Where the hand rests is more chunky and ergonomic than the Joycon. Maybe more like the Hori split pad pro? It doesn't look immediately comfortable to the eye, though.

@johnvboy Honestly the "probably won't even know it exist" is likely to be the biggest hurdle for this.

It might just be outsider perspective but so far Valve's hardware efforts have seemed.... very "they'll come if we build it" laissez-faire that doesn't seem to pay much attention to stuff like offline retailers/etc which remain a huge portion of the console proper market.

Come what may, the average Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft console can be found in such places as monolithic Walmart of all things. So it's not even non-gaming but literally non-internet person who can expect to find their game consoles.

The fact this seem to remain primarily pre-ordered through Steam, unless there's massive changes, make me think this will be more directly marketed at people who are.... ultimately already PC gamers.
And while it's not everyone, a lot of people game on PC because their PC rig is THE one they built to play their games on.

It could be a very interesting product this said but I feel it is kind of fated to remain niche on this simple logistic factor alone. This said this could be exactly the "niche" Valve intend for it, and need nothing more than said niche.

Ultimately though the PC game market feels like, on game selection alone, it's more in competition with Sony/Microsoft than Nintendo so I guess we'll see how it goes.
This could be an attempt at trying to woo back the kind of indies who ended up selling more on Switch than the PC platform where the scene was born but if that's the case it might be "too little too late" because the people who'd wanted to "play indie games on the go" already likely have a Switch and thus would be unlikely to buy this just to go back to a PC environment.

You people really think this thing will be a mega hit?

Hahahaha!

This thing has no market. And pseudo Nintendo-fans calling this better, repeat after me:

SOFTWARE SELL CONSOLES.

You guys have no idea why Switch sells. And Pc users won’t get this because they don’t like integrated hardware/software.

This is DOA

honestly with the steam library and higher specs, $400 for this is very enticing. thats the price people would pay for a switch pro at this point, and as long as its comfortable (like the hands-on impressions say) and has good battery this is very promising. could be the kick in the pants nintendo needs to realize that people want more from their hardware

Nintendo will release a handheld with equal power in 2030, my wallet stays closed. On a more serious note as long as nintendo keep making games i still have to buy their consoles no matter how bad they are. But i do wish they go the Sega route and just make games instead.

Yep I'll be buying this instead of the Switch OLED. I'm tired of the Switch having a very limited library (for my interest at least, it's still mostly teenager/kid stuff, I"m a male in my 40s), and seeing most of the games I want to play portably on PC or other systems. I'm also EXTREMELY annoyed at Nintendo and the Switch for how the system is failing lately. The drift I have been dealing with for a few years now, I was buying replacement joy-sticks in bulk, but now the right joy-con, even when attached keeps disconnecting every few minutes. I refuse to spend $100 (CAD) on more joy-cons to fix this. I prefer playing video games portably for my lifestyle, and this looks to me as exactly what I want.

Considering there's a steam OS on this thing, I wonder how (or if) emulators like Retroarch, Dolphin, or AM2R will run.

If those things get running smoothly on here, this could basically an on the go, all-in-one for every game except current gen console exclusives.

@Gwynbleidd Honestly it's barely a higher resolution than the Switch so... I wonder how well it will truly run. Or be enjoyable.

Thinking about even just factor like text size with many games being infamous even on Switch for how hard to read they are when playing on handheld, I could see this problem being worst on "switch-sized screen playing literal PC game without console-specific UI changes".

That's another factor I hadn't thought about(and I already can't help but wonder if that thing might not be sold at a literal loss at 399$, or how run it would run if it's indeed as powerful as people think it is when the 2017 Switch itself was already infamous for how hot it could run while being much "less" powerful).

Looks pretty cool, but they're missing a few things that made the Switch such a success. The price is a little high, considering you can get the Switch, which also plays a lot of the same games and is portable and is cheaper. The Switch has controllers that come off of the system, so you can set it down and take the controllers off (not needing to go find a USB controller somewhere), having a controller in each hand seperated hanging on the sides comfortably while the screen stays put with a stand. But also when traveling anywhere, you can take a controller and pass it to a friend to play multiplayer without worrying about controllers. The stand itself is very convenient to slide the system in and out of the slot connected to the TV, rather than fiddling with finding cords each time. They're minor issues, but I'm sure this will be pretty awesome for people with big Steam libraries.

@Ambassador_Kong it probably won’t. At least for a while. Nintendo has 1st party games and is approaching 100 million eventually.

@Ludovsky I would be amazed if Steam can profit much from the hardware at the quoted price, if at all. Steam machines was a great idea, but marred in execution. They somehow forgot that the idea was to simplify pc gaming to a console level, but actually made it complicated with a bewildering array of different specifications from a plethora of manufacturers. That was doomed, but I can't wonder what might have happened if they had just three or four versions, like this. We'll see.

@boxyguy the thing is about the price specs is I want to know how much profit margin they make on it or if it's sold at a loss(which would mean... a whole other bag of things in my eye).

Even at 350$USD, the Switch OLED actually apparently doesn't make that much of a profit margin(in fact, comparable to the previous Switch apparently, even with the increase, because of the added cost of the OLED screen and storage iirc).

This thing is gonna run Breath of the Wild better than the Switch.

@jowe_gw I've said multiple times that I dislike the company, and have a personal boycott against Nintendo. The reason I come to the site is because I like the people I have met on it. Whenever Nintendo makes a game in one of their long-running franchises, it's just rehashing old stuff, or ripping off other things. No, I'm not trolling, I just have lost faith in Nintendo after supporting them for nearly 30 years.

This looks cool to me. I don't like sitting at the computer to play games. Playing Heroes of Might and Magic III handheld sounds awesome!

@WhiteUmbrella Honestly it's one of the thing that bug me.

People shout out at Epic for trying to pricecut Steam away from it's dominant position(i.e.: offering free games at an operating loss, simply assuming they can keep throwing money away until they achieve a dominant position).... but honestly with how this thing keep being compared to the Switch I can't help but feel like it's an attempt to do the same at Nintendo.

I.e.: "Look at how much better console is but, oh, that's only affordable at all because we're selling it at a cut price by throwing money to try to edge out the competition".

Granted there's more to it than just that.
I mean, I know that with how established the big three are, they couldn't get established without either selling something "remarkable" at a cut price or releasing "something of similar power"... which would make the point of getting this moot if it was no more powerful than a Switch.

Though it remains to be seen if they will up their distribution/retail presence with this or keep thinking they can coax with just Steam pre-order.

Really don't understand how some people see this and think it will be uncomfortable. On the contrary it looks extremely comfortable. There is a really decently sized grip and the buttons and sticks are not close to the bottom where you would have to bend your thumb to reach.

It does look very ugly though and has huge bezels. Overall it looks like it is going to be a great product. Wish Nintendo would have offered something similar tbh.

@WhiteUmbrella I would just wait and see what will happen.

But I am not gonna buy this. At least not for now. I am saving for a gaming PC so don’t need it now. Soon I will only need a PC and Switch

@Schizor88 I mean, it looks like it will sell more than just the Switch OLED model.

Nintendo has sold so many regular and Lite models of Switch that after the reveal of the OLED left many somewhat disappointed, I imagine that OLED won't sell as well as those other models because there's not much that warrants purchasing something that's slightly more expensive but doesn't offer any new hardware features.

Meanwhile, the Steam Deck costs $50 dollars more for the cheapest models and it's essentially a built-in PC functioning as a handheld device (maybe a bit limited but still).

I imagine most people would prefer the alternative over the OLED model because even Nintendo themselves said that there's no reason upgrading if you already own a Switch.

But people will notice how much better the Deck's resolution is compared to the Switch OLED model, and that might factor in word of mouth on how successful the Deck will be.

@Nintendo_Thumb Also I suspect Nintendo's strength here might not even be anything to do with the hardware but another thing that Valve seem to have purposefully ignored in all it's previous offering.

That is, a retail presence and the distribution network(and negotiated deals with retailers/etc that go with it) to actually get their console into people's hands.

Even with scarce supplies you can expect to find a Switch not just in video games or even general electronic stores, but even in non-gaming places like... Walmart.

And somehow I don't expect this thing to be available at Walmart(especially not without any physical game to sell), let alone in a widely available fashion.

And that's the thing. With "can be found at the Walmart", you don't even need to be a gaming person to know of the Xbox/Playstation/Switch. You don't even need to be an internet person to.

Not for me but I can see it having a market. Will keep an eye on how it is received and reviewed for sure. But right now I have just about enough time to play what I already have.

Not really interested and I don't think, it will be a success.
The games are the final point of every system and so I'll stay with the Switch. Or the Switch OLED from October on.

@russell-marlow I... don't know about that.
Ultimately, the people who see this Steam Deck will be ultimately of two category(and usually have to be both).
They'll need to be gaming people AND internet-always-online-people like us who're commenting here.

The OLED?
The OLED can be likely found about by simple "actually went to the Walmart and saw they got Switch in stock" people.

That's the core difference between Valve and not just Nintendo but all the other console manufacturers. The thing they likely will have that Valve(unless Valve massively change it's "They will come if we build it" laissez-faire that seem to forego establishing/negotiating a retail presence and the like) is that not only you don't need to be a gaming person to know "of" them.... you don't even need to be online to.

Don't hear me wrong. I think this might be able to carve a niche, but I don't think it'll do so by managing to displace anything or anyone.
It might carve a niche in "Steam users who wishes they could play on the go like a Switch", but ultimately a LOT of people who're primarily Steam users are still primarily PC gamers... because the "PC" is the platform/console/formate they're comfortable with using a mouse and keyboard or playing at their desk rather than a TV.

Ultimately it comes down to logistics and I don't feel like Valve is really well-placed to compete with the other three on that front. It might dominate the digital format through PC, but on the hardware front it still has a lot to learn not in term of specs but simply in terms of "actually distributing the thing and getting it known to people who're not terminally online".

@russell-marlow
The chances of the SteamDeck outselling the Switch OLED are virtually nonexistent.

@Ludovsky
That is exactly what I mean. The Switch can live with its low amount of storage more easily.

For the smalles Steamdeck, you probably need more storage. However you choose to solve this issue, the price difference between Switch and Steamdeck is a bit bigger than it first seems.

@Kirgo Yeah, that's a factor. Plus the dock being a separate purchase rather than included by default.

Honestly, if the dock hadn't been part of the default package on Switch it would never have took off I think.

This can still carve it's niche, and perhaps even just that niche would be good enough in Valve's eyes.... but short of entirely overhauling the way they see hardware distribution, negotiating deals with the like of frigging Walmart and other average retailers(instead of just specialized electronics/game places)... I don't see this becoming mainstream. At least not this iteration unless they re: adjust their course.

But Valve has always been... kind of borderline "libertarian laissez-faire", so I don't see them doing, well, that. This approach kind of worked on PC but I don't really see it working on the retail front(and especially not without physical games to sell, which is a good way for retailers to go "eff you" about selling your console since physical goods is what get people coming to their store).

I wouldn't get this system even if someone offered it to me for free. That said, I'm disappointed that Valve have made a legitimate handheld beast that can also be hooked up to a tv. We were told that power was sacrificed for portability where the Switch was concerned. But isn't this proof that that's practically, erm, horse crap?

This has tipped the scales for me tbh. I was considering getting an OLED this year but now I think I'll wait for the next one. No point getting it now that I know NIntendo could have made implemented a better chip with it.

@westman98 So you don't think the console will dip in sales if this is the third rendition of the console that most people already own or could get a cheaper priced Switch?

I don't hear too many positive things being said about the OLED model after people were burnt out after all the rumors of the Switch Pro, that's going to lead to some of them recommending the Steam Deck because it's essentially what the Switch Pro was rumored to be and that's going to make some people decide to purchase it instead.

Please stop! You guys really wanted that made up switch pro didn't You? Every damn day There's a new article about this phony baloney switch pro. Enough already! It ain't happening. Accept it.

I would love for this to succeed. Nintendo needs someone to push them a little bit like in PSP era.

I'd grab it If I had money to spare.

@ThatNyteDaez Honestly.
Edit: okay, confirmed the thing is selling at a loss/near loss : https://kotaku.com/gabe-newell-describes-steam-decks-price-as-painful-for-1847301377

I think this thing's pricepoint is only possible because it might follow the Playstation/Xbox philosophy.
i.e.: "We artificially sell it less than it actually cost to make, with next to no profit margin on console sale because we know that the real price would lead people to never buying it and us not establishing a presence on the market otherwise".

So in short: It "exist" only because it's likely not sold at the "true" price it would otherwise cost. And I have extremely mixed feelings about that approach when we keep hearing about overworked game studios and burnout... but a lot of that burnout exists because of the demand for higher graphics because of the demand to keep up with higher powered hardware... which only sells because it's not sold at it's real cost.

Not sure how I feel about a (even if not certain since playerbases are possibly different anyway) attempt to pull this against of the few consoles who's kept away(since the Switch was made to still sell at a profit, thus closer to it's "real" cost instead of lower) from this hardware horserace and the burnout-inducing graphics they lead to in the industry.

Like, I've seen noted the OLED barely makes much of a different margin of profit even at a higher cost because of the cost of the OLED screen and added storage.

So I have a hard time to see how the 399$ Steam Deck would NOT be selling at a loss.

Like, ultimately if the Switch is indeed what they're gunning for... then Valve can shut up about Epic Games trying to price them out of the digital PC market by "giving away free games and purposefully losing money just to establish themselves"

@Zeldafan79 impossible. There will be 10 articles per week until the pro comes. If it doesn't come, there will STILL be an article 10 times per week. We're in article hell.

@jowe_gw He does have a bit of a point, this is the same company that releases the same 2.5D Mario games each time with minor tweaks, and Zelda games with the same plot structure with nearly each entry.

And as much as I love Metroid, I have to admit that it has a somewhat formulaic structure with similar weapon upgrades in each game as well as the same enemies like Ridley. But that's mostly the 2D games, the Prime games do shake things up a bit but it could use some more newer gameplay innovations, if I'm being honest.

I don't think I have to mention GameFreak and their uber popular Pokemon franchise that they barely change the engine with each entry and is pretty much the Japanese Call of Duty in terms of popularity overall.

Sounds like a killer shoot to the Switch if Nintendo doesn't react immediately with the pro.

Catalog and power diference is a win factor on the deck IMO. It's the time for a change on Nintendo.

@russell-marlow The resolution is pretty much the same. The huge difference will be the graphics and performance. For instance playing The Outer Worlds or Doom on this compared to Switch will be next generation better on the Steam handheld.
Personally I think the resolution is absolutely fine for a small screen, better graphics settings textures etc will be much more noticeable in making games look better than resolution.
I bought the Trine games recently on Switch and was so disappointed how poor they look compared to PC .
I will buy one of these handhelds and keep the switch primarily for first party games.

@russell-marlow No he doesn't. And nowadays that point makes even LESS sense.

Zelda BoTW literally changed the formula of Zelda and that is the last new Zelda game released.

The last New Super Mario Bros game made was in 2012. It was ported in 2019. Also... 2.5D Mario games? The only ones like that I can think of is 3D Land and 3D World and those games are also quite old and they are the only ones in that style. I guess this comes up beause they ported 3D World? That doesn't mean all 3D Marios are the same.

With Metroid, the last 2D Metroid game was Fusion that is more than 10 years old. So at the very least they are not doing "constant rehashes". The next 2D Metroid game after that was a remake of Metroid 2 (Samus Returns) and now Metroid Dread. I don't get that complaint either. Because they bring back Ridley? because Metroid is a metroidvania game? All that makes the games all the same now?

This stupid point is always done and (again) it's not true nowadays. Maybe you could make a point with the New Super Mario Bros series or when the Zelda games were using OoT as a baseline (even tho is overexaggerating saying that Wind Waker is the same as OoT) but nowadays I don't think that's the case. Nowadays they prefer filling the void between main releases with spinoffs and ports (in the case of Mario and Zelda) and Metroid didn't get consistent releases since the 2000s.

Also a huge draw is that games on the PC are so much cheaper than Switch. I honestly can't believe how expensive Switch games are, even the 3rd party games. The Nintendo store sales compared to the Steam sales are laughable. Games on the NS are extremely overpriced.

@hammers1man Is there no mention of screen burn in that Nintendo mentioned would happen on the OLED console?
Because I haven't heard Valve mention that on their device.

But since Steam ports/games already exist and will look better than most downscaled Switch ports by other developers, I'm guessing that Steam Deck will edge this one out simply because the games won't look as crusty compared to the Switch OLED.

This is mainly most overall games on Steam Deck, first party and third party. The only games that will look great on OLED are first party Nintendo games, everything else might look crusty because of bad ports.

@Ludovsky Hardware being a loss leader is usually made up with game sales. Steam has the best sale prices though so it would take more game sales to make up the difference that it would Sony and Microsoft.

As for Nintendo, they don't sell their hardware at a loss and their sale prices suck. They are just downright greedy if you ask me. Looking at Valve's $400 machine compared to Nintendo's $350 machine, it's not even a contest.

@russell-marlow
As I have said before, for the general consumers - despite the strong hardware specs - the SteamDeck looks butt-ugly, is ridiculously large, has questionable button placement, lacks detachable controllers or a dock (sold separately), and doesn't support for physical media (thereby making the 64GB model somewhat of a joke). More importantly, it won't have any exclusive content, (which has been the hallmark of the success of Nintendo platforms) and it won't even be sold at any retailers outside of the online Steam store itself.

The way that Valve has presented the hardware makes it clear that it targets PC enthusiasts who want to play their Steam games on the go, not the general mass market who want a practical and convenient gaming device to play games (particularly Nintendo games) at home or on the go, which is the audience that the Switch is targeting.

@hammers1man Yeah, considering the price of the Deck and how often Steam sales happen. It seems like a decent win for Valve, honestly.

I like how people compare this to the Nintendo Switch or act like Nintendo should had done this not knowing the differences between a console and a PC. This thing is not competing against the Switch, it's competing against the other three portable PCs out there and is made for people like me who already had a large library of PC games to play but is unable to stay home to play them on a home PC due to commute.

It really is. It is what it is I guess.

@russell-marlow Wow... Do you honestly think this will outsell the Switch? Amazing.
Like, it looks like a neat piece of software but by it's very nature (and how Valve is selling it) it has almost no chance of getting Switch numbers.

@westman98 Couldn't have said it better myself. At best, it will have it's niche audience that likes this more "complicated" products.

Valve should’ve one-upped Nintendo by calling it the Steam Pro. Opportunity missed.

First game I’ll buy for it? Persona 4 Golden. And, if it comes to Steam as part of the series' 25th anniversary, P5R.

@SwitchVogel It came out later than the Switch and had the latest tech and specs, of course it'll be better. Would be lame if it won't though.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi Every time Nintendo is outmatched you guys say 'but this is really competition for Nintendo'.

@Ludovsky But Valve good therefore when Valve tries to compete like this is totally fine! /s

@russell-marlow This won't be as user friendly as a console. People will need to hit the graphics settings. It will be a more hardcore handheld but also one with the biggest and best library of games. As much as I love some Nintendo games the PC by far has the best library of games on any platform.
More of a niche device but still looks like a proper gamers handheld and a half decent docked console also. Hook this up to a hotel TV and you have a PS4 equivalent PC console or hook up a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you have a PC. What's not to love about it.

I have a huge steam library which includes big third party games now on the switch like Witcher 3, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein series, Metro series thats on my backlog. Was thinking about buying them for my switch because I dont have much time to play at home. With the Steam Deck I can play them on the go at the best performance. I am 100% on board. I will continue to buy first party switch titles but since they are spread far apart from each other Ill play the deck in between. The only two console for me in the near future will both be portable ones.

I want it. Always wanted to play games on Steam.

@jowe_gw
As an example, I see a lot of online excitement over the fact that you can uninstall SteamOS and install Windows onto the SteamDeck.

Most people have absolutely no idea how to do that.

Like I said, it's a great product for a very niche enthusiast audience.

Everyone talking like controllers and buttons to the left and right of the screen makes it like a Switch and not like 90% of the portables ever released.

@westman98 Who said it looks butt ugly?
It looks fine, not bad, not amazing, just fine.

Why would you need detachable controllers for?
to swing the controllers around with your 5 year old toddler or something?

They showed off that you can connect it to a monitor and play it that way with a keyboard and mouse. And if you don't have either, than it remains as a dedicated handheld console just as it's advertised on the box, but you have the option for that if you want, it is essentially a slightly scaled down PC.

And if we're talking about exclusive content, do you know nothing about Valve's first party games?

How many people wouldn't want to play Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Dota, Left 4 Dead or any of the thousands of other games that might not be exclusive but are available on the console?

The way you phrased that part made you come off as a Nintendo fanboy, seriously. Very close-minded.

@jowe_gw Read my comment again unless your that much in a hurry.

I said that I think it might "outsell" the OLED model, not every single Switch that's been selling up until now.

Ergonomically this looks fantastic until you take into account it weighs nearly twice as much as a switch…
Will save my dough for a Xbox series X and keep enjoying Nintendo exclusives for my Switch hand held gaming.

@DK-Fan I'm a PC-user, and I'm probably gonna get the hell out of this. You can speak for yourself, but it's unwise to try to speak for others that you do not know. Especially since Steam has hundreds of thousands of games, and many of them are really, really good. There's literally something for everyone. Only thing missing are console exclusives. Believe it or not, there are people out there that don't give a darn about those!

@westman98 It will have exclusive content, all the PC games that are not available on consoles.
https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best-exclusive-pc-games

@hammers1man Not being user-friendly doesn't mean anything since we live in the age of the internet where people can learn about things more quickly than ever before.

I've seen videos of kids showing off their modded 3DS consoles, what's so difficult about setting up the Steam Deck that some won't figure out by themselves or with a video guide?

lol no.... why people are comparing switch with this if there´s a huge price diference between them.... you can buy a switch for like 250 and a lite for 180... lol this console last model is 650 without a dock.... its like comparing a gameboy with a playstation without the exclusives lol

thats how apple still sell, people think expensive its better, think with a brain console without exclusives is a pc, and 650e more dock is the price of a pc ffs....

and more stuff they´re not telling like the games going to be streaming and its not an actual handheld because you cant play without good internet and stuff.

@Crono1973 This thing is basically just a portable PC, not something that would be in line with the Switch. Portable PC like regular PC are vulnerable to hacks, spyware, and malware and tend to had interruption with apps and browser not to mention too many DRMs on some software.

These are really just for PC owners who already had a home PC with a large catalog and doesn't had the time to stay at home to enjoy em. Like a normal PC you can do a lot with these but really nothing special since there's already a lot of better alternatives already on the market: GPD Win 3, AYA Neo, OneXPlayer, Dragonbox Pyra, etc. This one is cheaper than the rest and had a trusted brand so it may stand a better chance against those other no name portable PCs so that's a plus.

Day. One. Buy. The fact that this costs only £40 more than the Switch OLED is an absolute EMBARRASSMENT to Nintendo.

And to those saying "it'll just be another Steam Link/Box"... I bought the Steam Link full price back in 2015, and I still use it to this day. I trust Valve to deliver.

@Kensui The cheapest model is 50 dollars more than the OLED Switch, of course you can compare prices.

@russell-marlow You are really trying to defend that argument that this console will DESTROY the Switch, huh?

Also, never trust that the common people can do stuff like this. They don't. A video of a kid doing that online doesn't change that.

Oh and I have my doubts it will outsell the Switch OLED model by itselF too btw.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi This runs on Linux though. No hacks or viruses of any kind.

So you have to be connected to the internet at all times as it is steam driven sooo not really a portable.

@KirbysAdventure I'm sure Nintendo feels EMBARRASSED with their 80+ million unit sold Switch.
The last time I'll say this hear, this will be a niche product at best. Also, Linux has viruses and hacks. They just don't get the same ones Windows has. And if you want to make this console good you'll probably need to install Windows anyways.

@Dirty0814 No, games run natively on the system, just like the Switch. You don't have to stream at all, although you can if you want.

@hammers1man Graphics settings are extremely user friendly. They're all toggles, with words like "low," "medium," and "high." its' really, really easy to utilize a PC game. To be fair, running mods, hacks, and other such things are more difficult, but also not out of anybody's grasp. I modded Diablo II to have a larger stash, and even made my own experience table in about 10 minutes. Some games have installers that do the work for you, such as Morrowind's graphical overhaul. It's never been a better time to be a PC user than now, in 2021. So much is streamlined and simple, I love it, honestly.

I had to do a double-take when I first looked at the photo as I thought it was a Switch! It's shocking how similar some products look to it. I dunno if this will do well though, could be the next Ouya lol

After researching this product it looks really cool, a very viable alternative to the Switch and it even runs games portably better and looks better, and it can still dock! Very cool device.

@KirbysAdventure @jowe_gw Jowe, Nintendo hasn't sold 80 million OLED Switch's, which is what Kirby was mentioning. I agree that while Nintendo makes a more expensive Switch with barely an upgrade, Valve puts out this amazing looking handheld. They should be embarrassed, because this is exactly what Switch users have been asking for. This looks way more appealing than their VR unit, and will be a nice travel companion. The Switch is good, but man I'm sick of the slow load times and poor performance. They really need to up the internals, even if it's just to make a 5-10% improvement.

@russell-marlow
I'll admit the "butt-ugly" part is a bit subjective, but that is in no way a visually appealing device like something you would see from Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony.

I mentioned detachable controllers and the dock because that what makes the Switch a hybrid. SteamDeck doesn't have detachable controllers, and while it is compatible with a dock, that is a separate purchase.

When I say exclusive content, I mean games that are playable only on the SteamDeck product and nothing else. Which is exactly my point - it isn't meant to have exclusives as it is just another vector for hardcore PC enthusiasts to access their Steam games.

@jowe_gw The Switch is an excellent system, I'm not debating that! But the OLED model is a huge disappointment and denying that is just failing to read the room.

As for the OS, Steam uses Proton to run Windows games on Linux from which I heard is essentially flawless. Linux gaming has come a long way since the dark ages of Wine. And the risk of a Linux machine getting infected is practically negligible. Hell, the risk of a Windows machine getting infected is negligible too if you install a handy piece of software called Common Sense 2021...

@jowe_gw You missed the part where I said "plot structure", because that's what every Zelda game's been doing. I never said "gameplay" was the same because of BoTW existing. The plot of every Zelda game has been very formulaic since Link to the Past that even the spin-off game, Age of Calamity, does it too. By the time Skyward Sword came out, it became incredibly redundant to have the main bad Ganondorf go from Pig Ganon, to Ganondorf Dragmire, to Demise. Because they're pretty much essentially the same and they couldn't bother to come up with something more unique.

I'm just saying and everyone else is as well, that Nintendo isn't innovating much with their story telling compared to their gameplay and it's causing some to lose interest. Look how many other developers are embracing narrative in their games and Nintendo is only taking half steps and leaving some wanting more.

That's literally the thing that invests people's emotional attachment into liking something long term.

@BloodNinja I know but the general consensus from console only gamers is that PC's are hard work. Now you and I know it's not the case.
My biggest gripe is you can't tinker graphics settings on console games so you are stuck with poor framerates on some games.

@KirbysAdventure Exactly. Linux machines are very secure, and very difficult to breach. Windows machines only get hacked if the user does questionable stuff. People act like hackers just...breach your computer somehow. In nearly all cases of hacking, you have to willingly participate i.e. get tricked into clicking something you shouldn't. Unless someone is brute forcing your specific computer, you should be fine!

Dude the controller layout is amazing. Not only great position but also got back pedals?! Sign me up!

@KirbysAdventure How is it embarassed to Nintendo? They are raking in money with the Switch already and I'm pretty sure they don't care much about the PC side of things. They already found their focus, they're not gonna jump onto another market where they had to worry about a million other things.

@hammers1man Ah, I see what you mean, that makes a lot of sense. You're talking about the general perception of console gamers who don't necessarily know how easy it is to work a PC in 2021. In either case, Steam has made it super simple to run games with their front-end, so hopefully word catches on about that. Given that Steam has somewhere around 27 million users or more, I think enough people are figuring things out.

@westman98 Does it matter if it's meant to be played like the Switch?

If you want to do that then you have the option to do it but aren't required.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi It's an embarrassment to Nintendo when compared to their OLED "upgrade." The Steam Deck looks sexy as hell, and I think that the fact that it bothers a lot of Nintendo fans is saying something to it's impending success.

@russell-marlow So your problems with Nintendo GAMES are the plot... OK then.
Like, I get Nintendo stories were never plot driven and they keep that tradition to this day but I'm not going to say the games are bad because of it.

@russell-marlow
I agree, because I'm not the one directly comparing the Switch OLED vs SteamDeck lol.

@jowe_gw No, but it can be a detrimental if the game's are mediocre or boring.

Wow.. what a good news. A very fantastic piece of hardware

For that price, we get such a powerful CPU and GPU, option to upgrade internal storage to 512 GB, 4K and 8K output on the dock? I really can't see why people would make fun of this unless.. just being salty (except for its design.. which I'm okay with).

Massive, massive library to boot.. visual novel, JRPG, wonderful indie games.. you name it. Definitely gonna buy it and I love that Valve has regional pricing on my country. What a shame Nintendo..

@jowe_gw I would like to thank BloodNinja for his comments in this thread. This is something I was undecided on doing for years during my experience with this site and its community, but his blunt honesty regarding his stance and what he has to share is what finally led me to create an account on NintendoLife. Just so I can finally ignore people who have nothing to add to the conversation aside from resentful, biased comments disguised as witty jokes, among others. I'm looking forward to the next Pokémon article.

This is a hybrid system like the Switch so I just don't get the 'How can you compare this to the Switch' responses. If you don't care that much about Nintendo games but want a hybrid handheld this beats the Switch hands down in every department.

@hammers1man Yep I think many are just being salty...

@YANDMAN Far from light years ahead as it's basically a very under powered gaming pc. No dock at the $399 price, no OLED, same size screen, same base storage and about the same native resolution. I'm buying one (I also pre-ordered the Switch OLED), but it wont effect Switch sales much as it wont play the latest greatest Nintendo exclusives.

@Xiovanni Serious answer? Probably not at higher performance but maybe it can emulate Switch games.

@jowe_gw The Switch sold 80 million...powerful handhelds aren't niche anymore, mate.

@jowe_gw I mean for the price... we get a powerful CPU and GPU and we have the option to upgrade its internal storage to 512 GB SSD.

@jowe_gw Talk to me when you're less triggered by whatever it is that's triggering you right now. It's hard to work with people when they are being unreasonable, bullying, and insulting. Let's leave it at that, so I don't have to report your insulting behavior towards me.

@Kensui lol no.... why people are comparing switch with this if there´s a huge price diference between them.... you can buy a switch for like 250 and a lite for 180... lol this console last model is 650 without a dock.... its like comparing a gameboy with a playstation without the exclusives lol

You guys are putting in overtime trying to pretend that this isn't comparable to the Switch OLED because you know that it makes the Switch OLED look like a money grab.

@KirbysAdventure If it could become a portable PC it would had spyware and malware, not that it would receive it immediately but it's possible. It depends if the user ever want to go beyond the official route and sometimes you had to go beyond the official route to find fixes to some games cause Steam themselves doesn't provide fixes. When you go beyond the official route that's when you're taking risk with your PC cause you will never know, some fixes may came with malware and spyware and the person who made the fix or patch probably doesn't know about it either. I knew of this cause I had deal with a lot of them in the past.

This'll have its audience but outside of a negligible chunk of gamers it isn't competing with the Switch. Nintendo systems are vessels to deliver Nintendo games, everything else is window dressing. They operate on brand power not technical specs. They find success selling ports of their old games at full price on drastically underpowered hardware, the Steam deck outperforming the Switch and offering games that can be played anywhere else is not going to bite into the Nintendo market in any significant way.

@hammers1man If you buy the optional dock, it is similar to the Switch, but at a higher price and wont have the Nintendo exclusives. Besides, you have to see one of these in a persons hands. The system is fricken huge...far bigger (with the same size screen) then the Switch OLED.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi Have you ever run a Linux machine? There's literally no spyware or malware installed. It's the cleanest OS available, and has been for a long time. There's a reason that corporations and businesses in the tech industry prefer it to Windows or MacOS. Linux is so secure that some corporations leave their servers on for years because of how stable the OS is. As in, they don't reboot the system at the end of the day or whatever. Linux systems have a reputation for being the most stable and secure OS available.

Being able to purchase a game once and play it on multiple Steam Decks is a big selling point. The way Nintendo handles this is so backwards and family unfriendly.

Pretty Impressive. I'll have to get one soon. especially for emulating, since alot emulators run on Linux.

@Amsterdamsters You will have PC exclusives and a much bigger and better library of games. Much much cheaper games in the long run also so you actually will save money . But if you want Nintendo games you buy a Switch, but this is a much better hybrid and you will be paying much less money for your games.
Also you don't have to buy a dock to connect it to a TV/monitor there are cheaper USB 3 cables.

I can't see this being anything other than a crash and burn. But each to their own...

@BloodNinja But I thought the issue was that the Switch was not a powerful handheld tho...
The Switch didn't sold 80+ million because it was powerful. Since the very beggining people have been complaining about that, remember? That's why every time a console more powerful comes along and some people screams how "Nintendo bad" and how console X will "destroy the Switch" I have the same reaction. Because that won't be the case. A more powerful console doesn't mean a more successful one. It never has.

And here we have that stupid buzzword of "triggered". If "triggered" means comfortably sitting in my bed while listening to music and writing my hot takes of nintendolife.com then I guess I'm really triggered right about now.

@BrazillianCara My blunt honesty gets me in trouble sometimes, but it has also led me to some very fruitful relationships. I know I don't always say a popular thing, but at the end of the day, I know I'm being honest with the people around me and more importantly, with myself. Welcome to the site

@jowe_gw You called me stupid in a prior post, and suggested I post elsewhere, such as Discord. Sounds triggered, to me. Blocked and reported, in either case. Try to go easier on the other users, if you don't mind.

@BloodNinja I didn't called YOU stupid at ANY point here. Also I said that if you are in this website just to talk to people and don't enjoy Nintendo you can use Discord... What's wrong with saying that? And I didn't even bully anyone. At most I did passive agressive comments. Look who is "triggered" here, huh?

Nah, I should've blocked you from the start since you just nipick in every post possible anyway and then call it "bold opinions". Goodbye.

Versatile and powerful handheld with TV output. It's quite appealing... more than Switch that has old smartphone technology.

@hammers1man "is only 50e cheaper than oled Nintendo..." Lol.... 50e without dock, detachable controls, motion movement, exclusive games and physic copies too... They have games that are bigger than the 100gb and the model only have 64gb... Dohhh, the games going to be streaming so it means it's not even handheld lol. Tell Nintendo to do a console for 400e and sell the dock separately and than players complain lol

@Miu It is a good piece of hardware. I mentioned that a plenty here. I just don't seeing 1) Competing with the Switch. 2) Gaining much mainstream attention.
Also, yeah you can upgrade the space... But that costs extra money. Along with the dock that doesn't come packed with the system.
Again, interesting device but because of all the little quirks (and how Valve is selling it) I don't see the casual market going all over it.

To anyone dissing Switch for launching the OLED model, how much did you believe in the Switch Pro rumors?

That aside, this is actually a pretty cool device. I actually do think this'll throw Nintendo off, literally no one considered PC compressed into a handheld (or at least as an official console). Ideally, this'll push Nintendo to flex their legacy titles both popular and niche more. They have some of the most well known exclusive out there, and there's plenty of weird and bizarre titles that core gamers would want to try out, and I'm sure they can make deals to have indies and some 3rd party stuff on something like the Game Pass.

On the other hand, it's kind of a bummer that Valve is doing more to challenge Nintendo than Playstation or Microsoft, them and Nintendo really do have different markets

@hammers1man But if you want Nintendo games you buy a Switch, but this is a much better hybrid and you will be paying much less money for your games.

...and like PC, there will be emulators for every Nintendo system.

Another take here:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/07/valves_new_steam_deck_can_be_used_as_a_handheld_xbox

@Crono1973 Oh, advocating piracy here by any chance?

@variableman Nintendo does allow to access games from your account from multiple consoles at a time... Kinda. I just want to point it out.
https://kotaku.com/if-you-have-two-switches-here-s-how-to-share-download-1838438317

@jowe_gw *Steam has 12 Million users. Really good actually.
The Switch sold 80+ million units. Heck, the Wii U sold more than users have Steam with that number.*

You drunk? There is over 1 billion steam accounts and Steam has 120 million monthly active users.

The cheapest model is 419euros without a dock and with an emmc disk btw....

@jowe_gw Oh, advocating piracy here by any chance?

Just stating facts. Trying to get rid of me?

@jowe_gw Honestly I'm just tired of the "race to the bottom" prices that are use to drive up the "demand" for more powerful hardware.
Because ultimately it ends up being paid in higher game costs,(to cover the cost) higher game development cost(which itself drive up the cost of games further which's why we're moving from 60USD to 70USD), which ends up requiring more work from game studios which increasingly lead to overworked teams and burnouts as execs keep trying to extract more work from studios for higher profits and

Honestly, I'm just tired.
And the thing is, if the hardware was sold for it's "real" cost(like on PC, even before crypto inflation BS)...we likely wouldn't even be there because the hardware would have to be more reasonable and thus even some publishers like EA/Activision/etc wouldn't even be there because they'd have to compete on the quality of games not "how much money they can throw at them to make them shinier" to the levels that any games that even remotely fail doesn't just mean a temporary loss for the studio but the whole place closing down that increasingly lead the gaming scene to become so streamlined and homogenous because taking risks means the possibility of failure which can mean "your entire studio is fired".

I'm honestly tired.

Looks good, hopefully Valve will team up with some retail partners so that this can truly be a success.

@jowe_gw Yep but my main point is with the hardware.. no doubt it's hard to compete with Nintendo's userbase (not my point) but i really wish Nintendo upgrade their hardware because it really matters.. we really have a weak, ancient processor on Switch.

I agree with the pricepoint.. no dock for base unit..but I believe its selling point is to play it as handheld..

@BrazillianCara Did you know I'm not BloodNinja? Because you put my username in the front of your comment when it was clearly not for my since my opinions aren't... "bold" enough I suppose.

@Crono1973 Nope. Just making things clear here. Since emulation is often used when people actually mean "downloading roms of the newest Switch games online for free and then emulating them". Those things are not the same.

I'm seriously thinking about replacing my old laptop PC with this... x)

@Rika_Yoshitake #1 The hands-on reports have been quite positive! Although I'm sure that if you find the regular Switch to be too heavy, then the Deck won't be more comfortable to hold for an extended session.

Every article I've read is positing this as a Switch rival. I can't understand why anyone would think so. People buy Nintendo hardware for mostly Nintendo games so this isn't suddenly going to impact on Switch sales. It's ridiculous to even think so. Is this an attractive piece of kit? Yes. But this will not be competing with the Switch.

@jowe_gw Nope. Just making things clear here. Since emulation is often used when people actually mean "downloading roms of the newest Switch games online for free and then emulating them". Those things are not the same.

Yep, emulating often means downloading ROMS. Doesn't mean we should hide from the truth, you know there will be emulators on this thing.

@Miu Some people here screamed at my because I don't believe this thing will actually do much against the Switch (my opinion isn't "bold" enough apperantly) but I still think that's the case. And one of the reasons is that it feels that it needs tinkering to making it actually good.
You know, install Windows, maybe extra memory with an SSD to make the games load faster (since there won't be actual physical cards) and don't forget all the drivers and configurations if you install another os.
I mean, it can be used out of the box but it has Linux so it has it's limits already since a lot of games aren't compatible with it. And it only has like 64 GB of memory? The Switch at the very least has physical games that (for the most part) hold the majority of the game in there so you can survive with low internal space but this console is all digital so 64 GB (unless you use indies and such) is not much nowadays (although in that case you could use a microSD to be fair).

Sure, for people that know this stuff, it's not hard to change this but for casuals? Not a chance. This product doesn't seem to even be designed for a mass market because of this stuff. And that's putting aside how Valve is selling this product and not being avaliable in a lot of retailers.
There are also a lot of stuff that I'm not sure. The weight, battery life with bigger games, the screen, the heat it makes... I heard stories with other powerful handheld PCs that suffered from this issues.

I get there were people sweepped up by the 10 daily Switch Pro articles but Nintendo showed that they honestly don't care much about power and since the biggest selling stuff in their consoles is their own games, they have even less pressure to do a more powerful device. I learned to just go along with it at this point.

@Ejadaddy People buy Nintendo hardware for mostly Nintendo games

Nintendo doesn't really need third party support?

@jowe_gw I can definitely say that I wasn't talking about your comments. That said, I guess it was unnecessary to "tag" you in my message. Sorry if this caused any confusion.

@Crono1973 Yes but no. They need for filling a catalog but those aren't the big selling ones.
Besides, there is a reason why they went for indies this gen. Games with lower graphics, perfect for filling a calendar year when they don't have games. But the big budget, high selling games on Nintendo Switch are all from Nintendo instead of the big third party games. It has been like that for a while at this point.

@Crono1973 You don't need to download ROMS. And downloading roms of games that are on sale right now instead of buying them is... a bad thing to do for sure.

@BrazillianCara I imagined that. My hot takes weren't bold enough...

@Xiovanni Hm... You think so? Even in portable mode? I don't even know how that could affect the battery of this thing. I should look at the Switch emulation scene in more detail someday since I assumed it needed more resources.

I actually bought a handheld PC earlier this year, the GPD Win 3. I've been playing it pretty much every day since I've got it, much more so then my switch, but I am mostly a PC gamer so makes sense I guess. Handheld gaming PCs like this are awesome devices, but seeing as this one is similar in power to the Win 3 and both have their pros and cons (gyro controls, slightly more powerful hardware and track pads in Steam Deck. Slide up keyboard, smaller, slightly better battery and presumably easier to get ahold of for the Win 3) I'm okay to wait for a hopeful Steam Deck 2 before I get one!

@Madao I imagined that other user (the one my comment was answering) made a mistake with that number since the beggining (lower than I expected). It was a response and he put that number there. I should not have taken at face value. Sorry. Deleting that comment.

@jowe_gw The problem is our Switch is actually weak.. many casual gamers complaining about stuttering, poor framerate and resolution esp on handheld mode. Even for exclusive game which is unacceptable. I love my 3DS but for Switch, Nintendo really need to push developers to optimize their games better.. and for them to upgrade that ancient Tegra processor (even RAM too)

So many making fun of us when we complain about OLED Switch.. mocking us for believing Switch Pro's rumors.. but we already complain about it since long before those Pro rumors emerged..

I was a Nintendo apologist with the Switch's battery life, but potentially two hours for the Steam Deck? Woof.

Finally, a handheld that will let me play F-Zero GX and Wave Race: Blue Storm at 60fps on the go! 😂

@Miu I don't think that many casual consumers care personally. I'm not casual at all and I consider this graphics arms race a bit ridiculous at this point.
Although you are right in one thing, they need to optimize the games better if they actually plan to stay with base model specs until the end of the gen (something that it's sill probably 3 years away at this point seeing how well the Switch is selling).

@Madao Yeah, I quoted the wrong number, and forgot the zero when talking with that guy LOL
Whoops!

Besides the switch controller layout and exclusive games, the steam deck is just better as far as game options go.

If you buy a game on sale on steam and own this + a real gaming pc, you really get the best of both worlds. The witcher 3 allowed switch players to use cross progression with pc, but you still needed to own both pc and switch versions. The witcher 3 on PC costs $7 at it's cheapest. We never see the witcher 3 go below $40 on switch.

All i know is that PC games are often very affordable, the library is enormous, and while the switch does have a lot more digital sales than we ever saw on 3ds or wii u, the switch tax does play a role on many games. Being able to play games I already owned on PC, and then continuing the save on desktop is a dream. and think about all the free games the epic game store has given us, but we still pay upwards of $20 for, such as Sonic Mania, night in the woods, hyper light drifter etc. Plus it has bluetooth. I just expected more from switch's upgrade, so this is a perfect time to appreciate the efforts of other companies.

@Kensui This has gyro controls and PC has plenty of exclusives that can't be played on any console...

Biggest advantage of the Steam Deck over the Switch is the unbeatable software library. Thousands of games "out of the box".

Biggest disadvantage: no Animal Crossing.

I actually bought a similar device, a GPD Win, a few years ago. But the experience was far from optimal. Besides the normal trouble that tends to go with PC gaming, like games suddenly only displaying on one fourth of the screen size, updates suddenly breaking games completely, firewalls suddenly cutting things off, random driver issues, Steam login woes, etc, etc the biggest problem I had was that you can't really rely on that PC games work on a buttons-only device. Many games I tried didn't have proper gamepad support at all. And even for games that has been adapted perfectly for gamepad input on Switch or other consoles, like Civilization VI, the PC versions lacked such an option. So I doubt this will be smooth, effortless and for everyone. But for dedicated enthusiasts it might be interesting.

@Broosh ya but how does it actually feel though?!

@suikoden I think that your palms will be supported better than the switch which will be infinitely more ergonomic than joycons

@Kirgo check out the Odin Handheld

They messed up with the wii U. They won't divide their player base again until they have a pretty fun gimmick to show us, switch pro would not make sense

They need to install windows on this, out of the box.

Dude that price is a no brainer compared to an Oled Switch

Except can't preorder in SG

I mean this is neat but I don’t think it has too much appeal for me.

I'm going full monty on this and cancelling my oled switch preorder. It's worth the extra money to get 512 storage considering what I spent to increase my switch memory. Also comes with better glass. Why not splurge. You only live once and with how this planet is running these days..screw it 💪

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

NVMe version is priced comparably to a PS5, but this will probably be easier to order.

Come to think of it, Valve (Bellvue) is about 6 miles away from Nintendo of America (and Microsoft) in Redmond.

So if Mr. Peterson moves back to Nintendo he won't have far to go.

@falconlord5 Because you won't waste as much time trying to get controllers to work with your Steam games. Or maybe you will... ;_;

@BenAV I think I might have trouble adapting to having the d-pad and buttons right next to the analog stick.

Then again most games in my Steam library don't work well with a controller (even Valve's Steam controller) so it may not matter.

Looks like Valve took a page from the Wii U gamepad's playbook.

I love it.

Cool!

As I don't play on PC, I've never used Steam. But this looks pretty good. Not sure I'll get one, but will be interesting to follow.

@luckiernut Considering all of the revisions the DS and 3DS hardware went through, I could imagine a bunch of Switch hardware revisions as well.

Remember that some games were exclusive to the New 3DS, which tripled the CPU clock rate, doubled the RAM, increased the cache, etc.. Even old games saw a better frame rate on the New 3DS. Not to mention that games that required the second analog circle pad/nub need a clunky external peripheral on the older 3DS.

@luckiernut Did PS4 Pro split its player base?

@GrailUK you brought up IT guy and I don't care if it sold less or more then Switch.

OMG seriously what the heck just happened?
I can't believe such amount of power is possible on a $399 handheld, it shares the same CPU AND GPU architecture of the PS5/XSX! While I don't think its going to match them, 16GB of RAM is just ridiculous. I wonder how its battery life and affordability will be.

Nintendo has Nvidia on their side meanwhile, I feel this is the perfect chance for them to counter with Nvidia's GPU and CPU capabilities. Not to mention, I see no hardware innovation here, and that's Nintendo's best speciality
But still, even if it costs higher than the Switch, this does feel like a strong competitor to be honest. Even more if they eventually release a cheaper model akin to Series S.

@falconlord5 Then something is wrong with your PC, not with Steam

The price is right, it looks good, and it plays steam games? I really hope this lights a fire under Nintendo's asses, since they have been dragging theirs for years.

@Kensui This is far better value than the Switch OLED. The OLED model reportedly costs just $10 more to make, yet they charge $50 over the original. For just $50 more you get a handheld that rivals the PS4's performance. Of course you buy a Switch for Nintendo games, but everything else is better on Steam Deck.

Nevermind. As powerful as it looks, I'll yet to see if it can achieve the same extensiveness the Switch has in every market. If they do release cheaper versions, maybe that's where it gets closer. But I don't see any uniqueness there yet.

I wished for a handheld that could play any current-gen game, I kinda got it. But now I want a handheld that can play AC: New Horizons at 60fps lol

As long as the Switch has exclusive Nintendo games, nothing can threaten its position.

@Munchlax you're right. Competition brings out the best products and gives companies something to fight for. The great thing here is — so many people — myself included already have hundreds of games on Steam.

In that regards, it's actually a cheap way of acquiring a handheld system when you've more than likely got a plethora of games for the system already - not to mention the aggressive nature of Steam sales and third party Steam Keys undercutting the prices for titles on Switch by a country mile.

@kalosn The unique selling point (despite being a hybrid handheld, that can run a desktop OS) is that potential users more than likely have so many games they already own in the Steam platform.

@kalosn hardware innovation hardly matters when the large bulk of the Switch's library is third party that doesn't utilise it, unlike bespoke titles that took advantage of the Wii's motion controls.

Would be able to emulate most of Nintendo's consoles using this thing aswell

Aside from the fact that this loses the tradicional PC advantage of being able to enhance it with better parts, what's the real difference beside the initial storage capacity? I mean, if all the models have an SD slot, isn't it the best option to buy the cheapest one and then acquire an SD card, really affordable nowadays? What am I missing here? It's not an ironic question.

I wonder about performance, but having my big steam library on the go without needing to double dip for Switch sounds tempting. And if you could install GoG galaxy on it as well...

@Zorox88 Yeah, to try to illustrate a point. And good, me neither

Im sticking to the Switch OLED, Ive already got a laptop

this is what you end up with when you let spec-obsessed “gamers” design a console. i play Steam games, hope this succeeds, but it may very well go down like a lead zeppelin, like they say. burdened by its heft

Looks awful and probably performs and handles awful. Kind of thing you get and never use. Like a Chinese ripoff.

@The_New_Butler Hmm. Okay. Maybe I didn’t read carefully enough. I hope it gives Nintendo some competition, though, cause they always seem to do best when they have competitors.

I’m seriously questioning if I’m on a Nintendo fan site with how many Nintendo haters there are in this comments section. There are people here who seriously want Nintendo to fail once this is out. If that’s not what Nintendo haters say, I don’t know what is. Makes me wonder what they’re doing on a Nintendo fan site.

Honestly I want this to succeed. Nintendo's pricing is beyond exorbitant and they don't even offer localised pricing in my location; so with this, I could be buying more games and supporting more developers. Also, if Valve decides to iterate on this, we know our libraries won't be left behind. With Nintendo, who knows? They didn't offer WiiU compatibility with Switch (digital could be done) and instead chose to sell ports for $60.

Depth of Switch: 0.55 inches
Depth of Steam Deck: 1.9 inches

This will flop

@Linux7055 If you're weighing this up against a switch, then you were never really interested in the Switch to begin with. 9 out of 10 people buy a Nintendo console for Nintendo made games. This device, if it functions as well as advertised, is a great buy. I am concerned about storage as I assume you'll have to natively install your games. However, this isn't going to impact Switch sales. I haven't got a PC so if this works well and it runs games decently, I might buy it as a cheap alternative to play my steam games but I already have a switch and wouldn't choose this over a switch if o could only have one. How else am I going to play Dread, BOTW 2 and SMT?

No thanks. I am happier with my more expensive but better featured rtx gaming laptop. I don’t know how to use Linux and a sd card is not going to work for me after using these fast SSD’s I have in my laptop. Sure the two more expensive models has that but a few games will take that space away quick. I suppose if you just want something to play steam games on and your laptop is not being updated in some years this works especially if you have used Linux devices.

But if you want to be closer to current I say get a new laptop for a few hundred more with a rtx GeForce graphics card. Or a series s. That works better and you get game pass. Plus it is easier to get than series x or ps5 right now. But switch is still good. Just wish Nintendo had more games coming this year but after last year getting one polished game beats having games that need ten updates just to have stable FPS or not crash every 10 minutes.

I have to agree with comments about joystick and button layout on right,THE position configuration looks absolutely awful nightmare. value had no choice because of touch pad but it's where more isn't necessary the best way, to cluttered.IF you watch video on stick with right thumb it's overlapping over few buttons..No physical game cartridge. The file download sizes will be huge compared to the Switch. very big portable. I do however hope Nintendo is taking note of valve deck. Oh only available on there website.

Yes, Series S is better and cheaper than Switch OLED and Steam Deck but Deck is like a Switch but instead of using old smartphone technology it's almost a gaming computer. The marketing images include Control and Doom Eternal, the former is cloud-only on Switch and the latter runs around 400p 25fps on Switch without some graphical effects. Besides, it can be used to run other apps and OS. Switch is very weak and limited. It's also the first non-Nintendo handheld console since Vita excluding niche devices.

My only question is about the button layout but I assume that the console has been tested and the hands-on articles will explain how it feels to hold. It's not that Switch and the joy-cons are comfortable but Switch Lite is better than regular Switch for handheld use. This may be popular among different kind of gamers and the different tiers with cheap and expensive memory is a brilliant idea.

@Ejadaddy Did you read my last sentence? And if you bothered to read the article you'll know Steam Deck can have expanded storage via micro sd card.

@blinder2 The Switch layout is actually more uncomfortable. IGN tried the Steam Deck and found the side to side layout very comfortable to play. It doesn't matter if the joystick overlaps with the buttons. You won't use them both at once.

@Linux7055 Hi friend, I did read your last comment and I'm aware of the expanded storage. My position remains the same with respect to this and the Switch. I'm just puzzled as to why it's been positioned as a switch rival especially after I've found out that there are other devices like this already on the Market. Also my concern has to do with install sizes for games, which can be huge in most cases.

@Ejadaddy Because it is an affordable hybrid machine just like the Switch . Why wouldn't there be comparisons made, it is same market of hybrid gaming.

@hammers1man I don't agree with that. It's like saying that PC gaming is in the same market as PlayStation and Xbox because they have a big form factor and require a TV/Monitor to play. Gaming Consoles have carved out their own market for a long time now and it's completely separate to PC gaming, although one could argue that Microsoft is trying to blur that line somewhat.

Also even if you don't have a Steam library, this and a Game Pass subscription is extremely cheap way to play handheld AAA games on the go. I think those thinking about the minor upgrade of an OLED model might think twice. I won't be buying the Switch OLED now as I am happy with my Switch just for first party games.

To be honest I'm more interested in this than in an possible Switch Pro (or even a Switch successor)...

Getting the 512GB model and burrying my Switch until BOTW2 comes out. This is the dreamed Switch Pro and it's completely ready for my huge Steam library...and much, much more.

Hopefully this will get Nintendo out of their comfort zone, it's about time.

@Linux7055 I don't trust IGN. (I agree to a point about joycons ie sticks are better on value deck),but I'm not only one saying it that's played similar devises with same configuration. At least with switch you can attach 3Rd party one's on. not to mention if you have problems with left/right controller you have send whole device away. There is very good positive thou,but negatives outway

@KirbysAdventure most steam games need internet to work as you need to be logged into steam before even playing them, you cannot do that without internet. Being able to have it on the system is not the issue it’s that these games need to connect to the internet like most games today. This will work no different than your pc at home and it’s not even worth it to get the $399 bmversion with only 64gb you might as well buy at least the 256 as most steam games especially today will use up that much space and that’s $539. I honestly think the 512 would be the only viable option myself and thats even more. Just like the last steam device this will fail as well.

THIS is what the Switch OLED should've been, regarding it's specs. Good on Valve, I hope this teaches Nintendo a valuable lesson on being so out of touch with it's user base.

Steam Machine 2.0

The $400 64 model looks like a trap as well which is very impractical for PC gaming. Sure you can just use an external SD card, but using an SD for the Switch is one thing, but on PC with high end AAA game is a joke if you can’t run it internally.

Don’t expect this to take off for a multitude of reasons.

PC gamers are gonna prefer to stick with their better machines and most of the Switch base won’t bite due to the higher price barrier/not gonna be sold in common retailers/Horrid button design/and most importantly lack of the first parties.

Also no Emulation/pirating isn’t advertised as a feature for a reason which is why the majority that would get the deck wouldn’t use it to play Nintendo first parties.

@scannerdarkly7 The Switches' main innovation was the hybrid concept itself, but now it has become quite common (but few can get it as quick as flexible as Switch does) so that gets me to the other innovation, the Joy-Con...! right? Uh I know what you're thinking, they're not flawless, but at least they open the possibilities for different interactive software, like Labo and Ring Fit

So it's unique selling point is Steam itself? Well that's one heck of a proposition, its library is simply unmatched, and to add a honest point, Sony just released some of its first-party titles on Steam.
With that in mind I admit Switch has some really serious competition now, but still, I think it'll need a more mainstream-like price point if it really wants to tap into the entire Switch market, either through a price cut or cheaper variants.

@DevinRex whilst I agree with your out of touch sentiment, for a company so "out of touch" - they are certainly in all the profits A cherished company like Nintendo (and even Apple) - they seem to have far less necessity to listen to their userbase, and more about looking at their overall net profit, because people throw money at them anyway - despite not always giving the customer what they supposedly want.

@kalosn some good points: hybrids're common, but not as heavily marketed, I would add! I would say that innovation generates sales, and has initial market impact, but overall - has poor retention (gimmick factor).

Every generation that comes along, Nintendo have put themselves in a situation where they need to develop creative and innovative products, as opposed to Valve who have kept strong and steady for years, barely make video games, and release better products like VR, controllers, and now a handheld system, simply to keep people loyal to their ecosystem (i.e. not jump ship to EGS, GOG, etc). I see the Deck as more of a product to retain, and to keep what they already have: their userbase remaining loyal to the amount of titles in their library, now being available portable. Surely it's why EGS are taking major hits, releasing games for free, vouchers, etc, just to take numbers away from Valve.

Nintendo are playing in an altogether different field. With so many Switch units already in our hands, I feel it's also not in their interest to bring out a Switch Pro either, which would create division amongst the players and developers, nor will they view Valve as competing in their market.

They've still got a major trump card to play, and that's the amount of exclusive IPs they've got in the oven, or are holding close - ready to release. At the end of the day BotW still sells like hot cakes at £60, whilst most major releases on Steam will see sales and discounts within six months of release.

@Dirty0814 Steam has Offline Mode... have you even used Steam? And the Deck has expandable microSD storage just like the Switch.

@scannerdarkly7 Well, what can I say? Nostalgia sells. People are blinded by past positive experiences and Nintendo knows this. So they will try to milk that nostalgia cow for as long as possible. It makes sense from a corporate standpoint. People keep buying stuff that reminds them of the "good ol' days", Nintendo will keep selling it at a premium.

@DevinRex The good ol' days? You mean the Wii U, hence all the ports? in all seriousness, anything that even slightly rocks Nintendo's boat will no doubt see us as the consumers benefit with new releases (I.e. bespoke Switch releases, not downgraded multi-platforms, ports, Remasters). We need more competition in the market: too many corporates sitting back in their rocking chairs having money throw at their feet.

Obviously, this might have a negative tone to it. Far from it: I'm simply a fan wanting more and a some fresh options. The better this Steam Deck does, the better for us all.
£0.02

@scannerdarkly7 Actually yeah, when you think about it, the Wii U was Nintendo trying to continue to capitalize on the Wii's success (for better or worse). I personally loved my Wii U, but it was obvious that their pandering hard to casuals bit them in the butt in the end when it alienated the hardcore Nintendo fan. They learned the hard way that casuals don't care about nostalgia, just what's trendy, familiar and easy to use, which could be why most thought of the Wii U as just an add on to the Wii. Their atrocious kid-centric marketing didn't help them either.

Now I believe we're seeing it again with the OLED. It's obviously just to appeal to new users or casuals who don't care about specs or performance. Just a fancy screen. They're getting sloppy and lazy. And I agree with you. I hope the Steam Deck sells like hotcakes. Its one of the few consoles that may actually be stiff competition for them. The steam library is massive, and getting to play it on the go is a huge incentive. The better they do, the more likely chance that Nintendo would respond with a Switch Pro with a decent upgrade in specs... Something we all actually wanted.

@Amsterdamsters Yep and an underpowerd gaming PC is light years ahead of the switch. Although they are making their own dock It will interface with any existing USB C dock or cable, so no biggie there. My point is that for a similar form factor it is way beyond the capabilities of a switch which it is, numbers are numbers. I love the Switch but Nintendo are being and have been extremely lazy with it, unless of course they produce a pro model quite soon and silence the world. They factually have to make one at some point, may as well be sooner rather than later.

That kind of move from Steam should be an alert for Nintendo. But the problem of NS success is that it seems Nintendo is, again, proud and a little bit arrogant since everything is selling well. Let's charge 60 dollars for Wii U Ports, for medium budget games with our characters, let's sell a premium console with small changes...
An so far, they were right: NS and 1st party games selling pretty well...
I'm just afraid that their reaction will be slow as it was with Wii U. Something like "Ok, now Steam's Handheld is selling better, but that's because it is a new console... they don't have Mario and Zelda". Then, after 3 months, if it is still selling better than ns, Nintendo will keep the arrogance "well, our userbase is 10 times bigger, they don't have exclusive games like us". Then they'll start crazy slashes on ns price but it will be too late.
Remember: When the "battle was lost", Nintendo released Mario Kart 8 on Wii U along with a free game as if it was easy to do a miracle. In some countries they were selling MK8 and you could take Zelda Wind Waker for free...
Can you imagine, a company like Nintendo, that charges 60 dollars for emulated games and always give small discounts for its older games, giving a nice Zelda game for free?
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/04/mario_kart_8_club_nintendo_promotion_offers_a_free_wii_u_game

Let's raise the tag nintendoomed today, before it's too late.

@scannerdarkly7 I don't see a Switch Pro as a division, I see it as an expansion instead. An optional but future-proof piece of hardware that could become essential as time passes.

I think Valve already released a console years ago. It was the Steam Box though it was more like a Linux computer with Steam installed designed to play these games on the TV. The Steam Deck feels more like a true new console as it is running on its own OS. And it MAY get exclusives if they're pausible. Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, Team Fortress...

When it releases it will be the closest Switch will feel for real competition - apart from the higher range phones. I'll wait for more details to see if Valve's really going all-out on it.

@HollowSpectre I forgot about emulation… makes it even more of a promising value proposition.

I know right? I've been waiting on something that can do pretty much every retro system and this might just be it.

BRUHH THIS ***** LOOKS LIKE THE SEGA NOMAD 💀💀💀💀💀